"It'll Warp Your Brain!"
December 13, 2002

Wow:

Music Leaves Its Mark on the Brain

NEW YORK -- From Mozart to Miles Davis, the harmonies of Western music rewire the brain, creating patterns of neural activity at the confluence of emotion and memory that strengthen with each new melody, research made public Thursday shows.

By monitoring the brains of people listening to classical scales and key progressions, scientists at Dartmouth College glimpsed the biology of the hit-making machinery of popular song. Focusing on the structure of Western music, researchers show how the musical mind hears the flat notes in Flatt and Scruggs, the sharps of the Harmonicats and all five octaves in pop diva Mariah Carey's repertoire.

The flash-dance of these brain circuits, which process the harmonic relationship of musical notes, is shaped by a human craving for melody that drives people to spend more every year on music than on prescription drugs. The circuits center in a brain region that responds equally to the musical patterns of Eminem's hip-hop busta rhymes and Bach's baroque fugues.

"Music is not necessary for human survival, yet something inside us craves it," said Dartmouth music psychologist Petr Janata, who led the global research team. "Our minds have internalized the music."

Whatever the reason, the effect on the individual brain is measurable...

Posted by Jody at December 13, 2002 01:39 PM

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